Ekajati made a brief but powerful appearance in a dream last night. The context was wistful, almost pleasantly sad: what the Portuguese call saudade, perhaps. Definitely not upsetting but extremely significant. This on top of a snatch of lucid dreaming which woke me up to the realization that I was as deeply affected by the dream situation as I had been by a similar event during the day - both dream and 'reality' had equal weight and indeed 'reality'. That has been happening a few times recently.

Normally I wouldn't trouble others with my dreams but Ekajati needs to be taken seriously, I think. Any ideas what this dream might signify, if anything?

Some people say life is like a dream, but not a dream. They reject the notion that life is not dream. Dream is dream. Life is life. They separate dream as unreal, life is real, as if these two are separate world.

Life is a dream, or life is like a dream?

From your dream experience, which one do you think is true and why you think so? If you don't mind, probably you can share.

I am not here nor there.I am not right nor wrong.I do not exist neither non-exist.I am not I nor non-I.I am not in samsara nor nirvana.To All Buddhas, I bow down for the teaching of emptiness. Thank You!

DarwidHalim wrote:Some people say life is like a dream, but not a dream. They reject the notion that life is not dream. Dream is dream. Life is life. They separate dream as unreal, life is real, as if these two are separate world.

Life is a dream, or life is like a dream?

From your dream experience, which one do you think is true and why you think so? If you don't mind, probably you can share.

From my recent experiences, which come alongside some deepening (at least I hope so) in my meditation practice, I find that fundamentally they seem to operate on the same plane, in that an action in a dream brings about the same emotional reaction - mentally and physically - as the same action in waking life. As in waking life I've started to become much more aware of afflictive emotions and their consequences, so in dreaming. I find, when a dream-action wakes me up, I find myself struggling with a real emotion and its consequences in a 'waking' manner, exactly as if the action itself had taken place in 'reality'.

underthetree wrote:Ekajati made a brief but powerful appearance in a dream last night. The context was wistful, almost pleasantly sad: what the Portuguese call saudade, perhaps. Definitely not upsetting but extremely significant. This on top of a snatch of lucid dreaming which woke me up to the realization that I was as deeply affected by the dream situation as I had been by a similar event during the day - both dream and 'reality' had equal weight and indeed 'reality'. That has been happening a few times recently.

Normally I wouldn't trouble others with my dreams but Ekajati needs to be taken seriously, I think. Any ideas what this dream might signify, if anything?

I suggest that you now make progress from this through something like a dark retreat, if you can spare the time. This is more likely to help you find something meaningful than asking others, or at least that's my own experience. Let the reality be revealed.

I am not here nor there.I am not right nor wrong.I do not exist neither non-exist.I am not I nor non-I.I am not in samsara nor nirvana.To All Buddhas, I bow down for the teaching of emptiness. Thank You!

I had a dreams about Ekajati some years back and I went to Bhakha Tulku Rinpoche to ask him about it. He just laughed and said "the dakinis are funny." Basically, don't take it so serious, but also it is a message for you to understand within yourself. These dreams often have deep layers of symbolic meaning that can take time to unfold for you. Also they can be really direct and honest, and it may take time for you to accept that honesty. And ultimately dreams are unreal. That's the most important thing to know.

underthetree wrote:Ekajati made a brief but powerful appearance in a dream last night. The context was wistful, almost pleasantly sad: what the Portuguese call saudade, perhaps. Definitely not upsetting but extremely significant. This on top of a snatch of lucid dreaming which woke me up to the realization that I was as deeply affected by the dream situation as I had been by a similar event during the day - both dream and 'reality' had equal weight and indeed 'reality'. That has been happening a few times recently.

Normally I wouldn't trouble others with my dreams but Ekajati needs to be taken seriously, I think. Any ideas what this dream might signify, if anything?

In Tibet people rarely mentioned Protectors publicly though that might have been excessive in my opinion. Also not all dreams of Vajrayana figures means it was them. Some lamas state they receive so many emails about dreams that they request their sangha not to enquire, others do not mind & welcome them.

In old Tibet if a dream was thought of as special then it was not told to anyone of the the sangha as some believed it was not right to do so in order to ensure it's effect & hopefully similar recurrence. If I recall correctly Khen Ngagchung when asked by his guru about his dreams refused even him.